Reviewer: gary proffitt - favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite - September 26, 2023
Subject: Alien (1979)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O'Bannon. Based on a story by O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, it follows the crew of the commercial space tug Nostromo, who, after coming across a mysterious derelict spaceship on an uncharted planetoid, find themselves up against an aggressive and deadly extraterrestrial set loose on the Nostromo. The film stars Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto. It was produced by Gordon Carroll, David Giler, and Walter Hill through their company Brandywine Productions and was distributed by 20th Century-Fox.
Giler and Hill revised and made additions to the script; Shusett was the executive producer. The Alien and its accompanying artifacts were designed by the Swiss artist H. R. Giger, while concept artists Ron Cobb and Chris Foss designed the more human settings.
Alien premiered on May 25, 1979, as the opening night of the fourth Seattle International Film Festival, presented in 70 mm at midnight. It received a wide release on June 22 and was released on September 6 in the United Kingdom. It was met with mixed reviews on release but was a box-office success, winning the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, three Saturn Awards (Best Science Fiction Film, Best Direction for Scott, and Best Supporting Actress for Cartwright), and a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
Critical reassessment since then has resulted in Alien being widely considered one of the greatest and most influential science fiction and horror films of all time. In 2002, Alien was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In 2008, it was ranked by the American Film Institute as the seventh-best film in the science fiction genre, and as the 33rd-greatest film of all time by Empire.
The success of Alien spawned a media franchise of films, novels, comic books, video games, and toys. It also launched Weaver's acting career, providing her with her first lead role. The story of her character's encounters with the alien creatures became the thematic and narrative core of the sequels Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997). A crossover with the Predator franchise produced the Alien vs. Predator films: Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007). A prequel series includes Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017), both directed by Scott.
Plot
The commercial space tug Nostromo is returning to Earth with a seven-member crew in stasis: Captain Dallas, Executive Officer Kane, Warrant Officer Ripley, Navigator Lambert, Science Officer Ash, and engineers Parker and Brett. Detecting a transmission from a nearby moon, the ship's computer, Mother, awakens the crew. Per company policy requiring any potential distress signal be investigated, they land on the moon despite Parker's protests, sustaining damage from its atmosphere and rocky landscape. The engineers stay on board for repairs while Dallas, Kane, and Lambert investigate the terrain. They discover the signal originates from a derelict alien ship and enter it, losing contact with the Nostromo. Ripley deciphers part of the transmission, determining it as a warning, but cannot relay the information to those on the derelict ship.
Meanwhile, Kane discovers a chamber containing hundreds of large, egg-like objects. When he touches one, a creature springs out, penetrates his helmet, and attaches itself to his face. Dallas and Lambert carry the unconscious Kane back to the Nostromo. As the acting senior officer, Ripley refuses to let them aboard, citing quarantine regulations, but Ash overrides her decision and lets them inside. Ash attempts to remove the creature from Kane's face, but stops when he discovers that its extremely corrosive acidic blood could hurt Kane and potentially damage the hull. It later freely detaches and is found dead. The ship is partially repaired, and the crew continues their journey back to Earth. Kane awakens with some memory loss but seems to be otherwise unharmed. During a final crew meal before returning to stasis, he suddenly chokes and convulses. A small alien creature bursts from Kane's chest, killing him, and escapes into the ship, with Ash dissuading the rest from killing it.
After ejecting Kane's body out of an airlock, the crew attempts to locate the creature with tracking devices and capture it with nets, electric prods, and flamethrowers. Brett follows the crew's cat, Jones, into a landing leg compartment, where the now-fully-grown alien attacks Brett and disappears with his body. After a heated discussion, the crew decides the creature must be in the air ducts. Dallas enters the ducts, intending to force the monster into an airlock, but it ambushes and seemingly kills him. Lambert, realizing that the alien intends to kill the crew one by one, implores the others to abandon ship and escape in its small shuttle, but Ripley, now in command, explains it will not support four people and insists on continuing Dallas' plan of flushing out the alien.
Accessing Mother, Ripley discovers the company has secretly ordered Ash to return with the alien and to consider the crew as expendable. She confronts Ash, who tries to choke her to death. Parker intervenes and clubs Ash, knocking his head loose and revealing him as an android. He, Ripley, and Lambert reactivate Ash's head, and they learn that he was assigned to ensure the creature's survival. He expresses admiration for the creature's psychology, unhindered by conscience or morality, and taunts them about their chances of survival. Ripley cuts off his power and Parker incinerates him.
The remaining crew decides to self-destruct the Nostromo and escape in the shuttle. However, Parker and Lambert are ambushed and killed by the creature while gathering life-support supplies. Ripley initiates the self-destruct sequence but finds the alien blocking her path to the shuttle. She retreats and attempts unsuccessfully to abort the self-destruct. With no further options, she flees to the shuttle, carrying Jones, and narrowly escapes as the Nostromo explodes.
As Ripley prepares for stasis, she discovers that the alien is aboard, having wedged itself into a narrow space. She dons a spacesuit and uses gas to flush the creature out. It approaches Ripley, but before it can attack, she opens an airlock door, almost blasting it into space. However, it hangs on by gripping the frame. Ripley shoots it with a grappling hook, but the gun catches as the airlock door closes, tethering the alien to the shuttle. It pulls itself into an engine exhaust, but Ripley fires the engines, blasting it away into deep space. After recording the final log entry, she places Jones and herself into stasis for the trip back to Earth.
